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Post Info TOPIC: My T coupe project
Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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My T coupe project
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Thought I'd better post a few pics of my project. My brother and I drove almost non stop from Windsor to Saskatoon and picked up this T coupe a couple of months ago. I had just sold my '34 Coupe to a guy from Quebec and needed a project car to replace it.

Took it all apart - got rid of the Squeaker stuff and had the body blasted and epoxy primed

Started building a chassis using 2X3" tubing and some of Paul Horton's vertical bends

Cut out the floor leaving a nice little flange that just happened to be three inches up from the bottom of the body. I welded the doors shut and flipped the body onto it's roof

Body flipped back upright and sitting on the frame. I picked up a beautiful Lucky Seven front end from Lost Time Choppers in St. Thomas and mocked it all up.

 

Probably too many pictures for one post - I'll be back

 

 



-- Edited by Chris Stapley on Sunday 8th of April 2012 03:32:09 PM

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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RE: My T coupe progect
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Yeh, that should have been Lucky 7, Anyhow, I had some brackets lazer cut by a local shop for the rear end - I'm using '35 Ford wish bones with a narrowed spring and these'll hold everything in place.

temporarily mounted the hanging brake pedal and master cylinder Assy using a hoop made out of 1 1/2" square tube, and a piece of bar stock at the A post area

 

 



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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
poncho62


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That is going to be a cool looking car.....

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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The bar at the A post will also support the steering column. As you can see I also have the motor and trans mocked up and choppped the deuce grille shell 6". Plans are to chop it about 7" since I'm building this car as a tribute to a car I saw as a kid and fell in love with. I had some artwork done of this original coupe by Jeff Norwell. I taped a picture of some headers I like onto the art and also "Painted" the wheels in the pic to look similar to what I'm doing.

 

 

 



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chevyboy


TORONTO, ONTARIO

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Killer start. looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

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427CARL


CLINTON, ONT

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Holy ambition!! what a sweet ride.... I got tired,just looking at the work in the photos...

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Thanx, I'm retired so I've got nuth'n but time. Only problem is my wife's got some pretty serious medical problems and I've had the worst frigg'n cold I've ever had in my life lately but I try to get at least some small job done every day. Hope'n to get this project done for the summer of 2013. The motor's in being rebuilt right now too - it's a 400 inch small block Chevy that my Dad bought new in a '72 Caprice - I've been saving it, never would sell it. It's now a 406 with Dart heads and an Edlebrock intake with three Rochesters from an old 348 I had years ago. Should be a torque monster. The owner of the orignal car (which was called the "T for Two") is now a friend of mine. Fast Elvis had a magazine with pictures of his car taken in 1964, which he gave to me and I, in turn gave to the guy that built the car back in the late 50's. A friend in high school bought that car from him and was banished from the high school parking lot because he was such a bad influence on us guys! He ended up quiting school over it and is now probably more successful than any of us who stayed in school. Both of these guys drag raced the car and I'll be at every nostalgia event I can with this one once it's finished. Her's a couple of pics of the car when it was in the magazine









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Sacotu


COBOURG, ONT

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oh ah. i like the detailed work. can never have too many pics. good luck with this project.

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spinner43


NEW DUNDEE, ONT

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Good start, wish I had the time. Are you going to run the white canvas or vinyl roof as well? Its good to see more nostalgia rods being built from cars we remember from the past. Nothing against high dollar cars full of billet but I prefer the older look. Keep the pictures coming of the progress when you can get out to the shop. Hope your wife is getting better so you can both enjoy it when it is done.

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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yep, white convertble top material and whie interior. Thanx

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69SS454


MILTON, ONT

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Great story. Very interesting build. Keep the pics coming.

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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That old T coming home down I 75 at 80mph was probably going twice as fast as it had ever gone in it's lifetime!

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Adslow65


LINDSAY, ONT

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Hey Ragtop this is an awesome project! I'm looking forward to following along as you go... It looks great so far (especially love that front end!) A project with a story - even better! I'm just going to live my project dreams through you for now lol... Keep it coming! Cheers

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VirgilHilts


BELWOOD, ONT

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Wow beautiful work. I've never really liked T buckets but a Doctors Coupe or a speedster & track style T has always been a bit of a favourite. Love your vision on this one.

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Got a bit more done on the T. I'm working on the rear suspension and cutting up a '38 Deluxe dash to fit. Cut the outer skin off the trunk lid and removed the banged up panel below the decklid. Man! The repro stuff doesn't fit too well. I have a good friend who's an awsome metal shaper and he's going to do a little rework on some of the panels and then I'd like to get the decklid punched full of louvres. Chopped the Deuce shell 6"


















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invision


NIAGARA FALLS, ONT

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Man Ragtop! You're really moving along with this project! The white convertible top with white interior is the perfect touch. Best of luck and keep the build photos coming!

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A journey in design and fabrication begins with a vision, a single pen stroke ... and in some cases the blow of a hammer.
Adslow65


LINDSAY, ONT

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Sweet! Thanks for the update its great to see progress, you're kicking @ss! Dash looks nice in there!

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123pugsy


MARKHAM, ONT

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Excellent project so far.  Keep it coming.



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meoracing


SAULT STE MARIE, ONT

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Beautiful, very beautiful. Love all the work your doin on the car. Please keep the pictures coming. We appreciate them. Mike

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Spending most of my time getting my ElCamino ready for the summer but I have a couple of new pictures - my bro-in -law happens to have a CNC Mill in his garage so he makes a few parts for me - he just completed these "Spuds" to cap off the ends of the '35 Ford radius rods and accept my four bar adjusters. I'll weld all the way around as well as drill a couple of holes to be plug welded. Also got buddy and master metal shaper Jim Bailie to help me adapt the '38 dash to the T. I still need to rework the ends of the dash to fit but it's now straight across at the top to suit the T windsheild opening.

 

 



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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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OOPS! Here's the piece he made



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workin class


FINCH, ONT

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nice build any idea month and year of the magazine.I more than likely have a copy in the 2000 magazines I have.

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chevyboy


TORONTO, ONTARIO

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Thanks for the new pics, looks like its set to be a killer build. What did you end up doing with the original frame/suspension?

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Roy's car was featured in September 1964 Rodding and Restyling. I sold all the original T stuff the day I brought it home.

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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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RE: My T coupe project
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I haven't posted for a while since my wife has had some serious medical problems and not much has been happening in the shop. I had a little time today though so here goes. Some of you may have seen this at a couple of other sites as well but I hope it's interesting for some. I haven't built a channelled car since 1972 and back then my T bucket was built altered style with a long front end and the body set way back on the chassis so the front wishbones pivoted on a bracket below the frame and ahead of the firewall. I wanted to keep this wheelbase as short as possible but I like the look of long wishbones and wanted to maintain an angle that was complimentary to the frame rail. That means the bones had to pivot on a bolt that went through the frame as well as the body. A tube welded through the frame and long enough to clear the body would have made body removal difficult at best so this is what I came up with: My great brother in law has a CNC bridgeport and a good lathe and has helped me a lot with this stuff over the years. We made these two pieces (for each side of course) from 1 1/2" mild steel. The first piece which will be welded through the frame is bored for a 1/2" bolt and counter bored to accept the outside piece, also made from 1 1/2" diameter mild steel.

 Then I drilled through the body and frame with a 1 1/2" hole saw:

Now the first piece is installed in the frame - it sits flush on the inside and sticks out a bit on the outside but leaves plenty of room to lift the body:

Nothing is welded yet - it's all still mock up but the outside piece slides through the body and locates in the counter bore of the frame piece:

And the radius rod is raised into position and a bolt slides through to hold everything together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
Adslow65


LINDSAY, ONT

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Sorry to hear about your wife, hope things are ok!

Nice to get another installment of this build... this is a cool idea to give you the look you're after!

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123pugsy


MARKHAM, ONT

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That's the kind of thing I like to see.

Great idea with those pieces.

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spinner43


NEW DUNDEE, ONT

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The countless puzzles you can solve with an idea and the right tools. Looks good, great idea. Was looking forward to see what had progressed.

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hemikev


HAMILTON, ONT

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Thatis amazing , fantastic work , i am a huge fan of t buckets ( dream some day ) but your coupe is going to be 1 sweet ride , congrats and hope all ok with your Mrs ...

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Thanks for the well wishes guys! I'm afraid I had to call the ambulance again tonight though. Just got home at 2:00 am and they're keeping her at the hospital again.

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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
123pugsy


MARKHAM, ONT

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Sorry to hear about your wife. Hope she has a speedy recovery.

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henrys57wagon


WOODLAWN, ONT

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Great project and nice work on the car. Hope all goes well with your wife, main thing is for you to get your rest and eat well. We have been going through the hospital thing with my mother in law for the last two weeks(85) and it does take a toll on the body and mind. Best we can do is pray for a good and healthy recovery.



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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Thanx Guys!

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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Well, finally back to work on the coupe although this heat is taking it's toll now. The body work is almost done. Had to reskin the trunk and I thought the new skin looked like a pretty good fit until we tried it on for size! Wow! tons of work to get a nice Mercedes type of fit. Should be in prime from the beltline down in the next few days, then I can drag it home and do a little more on the chassis before we start the chop. I had to get the rear rims reversed because they ended up way close to the body, and that means they need to be repainted but it'll look a lot better, I hope.





I'm using a deuce grille shell that I cjhopped 6" and I'm trying to decide if I should trim off the edge where the hood welt would normally go. I molded in that area of the firewall/cowl to eliminate that surface and I think the shell might look better that way too, although I might need to split the shell all the way around and make it an inch or so wider to hide the rad. I think I'll wait til I get the rad built and then decide.

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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
sasquatch


NORTH BAY, ONT

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Ragtop, a great wonderfully executed build, very very nice!!

Thanks for posting the step by step pics, great veiwing!!

Hopefully your'e wife is making progress.



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Adslow65


LINDSAY, ONT

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Yup nice to see progress! Love this build

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Mak'n a little more headway, but my wife needs a lot of help and can't drive anywhere so it takes up a lot of time - seems like if we didn't have doctor's appointments we wouldn't have any social life at all.



Getting that repro deckild skin to fit like a Mercedes was a bit of a challenge. Also reversed the rear rims because the tires were too close to the body. A little more welding on the frame and the body can go on for good then we can start cutting along the dotted lines as they say.

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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
123pugsy


MARKHAM, ONT

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Looking good.

I like the rims. Keep the pics coming.

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Adslow65


LINDSAY, ONT

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Yup lookin great!! Keep us up to date....

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invision


NIAGARA FALLS, ONT

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Very Sexy! Thanks for sharing the new pictures of your progress.

Also, hope things are improving for your wife.

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A journey in design and fabrication begins with a vision, a single pen stroke ... and in some cases the blow of a hammer.
sasquatch


NORTH BAY, ONT

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Agreed , real good posting.

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Iwannagofast


ONTARIO

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Lookin good Mike. Hope your wife's health improves.

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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Got a little more done - going slow but we're planning to start chopping the top on Tuesday.



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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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The Whack attack has begun!


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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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I didn't want to cut the "T" strips that separate the rear panel from the side panels so we unbolted them and drilled out the rivets. Bending them back slightly gave us enough room to cut through the sheet metal and the support channels inside the rear quarters. Once the chop is done we'll just lop off whatever sticks up too high.





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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
Chad


GUELPH, ONT

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good stuff Mike!!!

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123pugsy


MARKHAM, ONT

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You can really see how the rust hides in every nook and cranny in that last pic.


Great project. Keep it coming.


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Ragtop


BELLE RIVER, ONT

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Worked on the chop most of the day today with the help of my buddy Al. Here's some pics. It's all done except for a little finish welding and grinding and some fill'n and paint. After sitting on the seats I'm planning to use we dicided to limit the chop to 4.5 inches - not a lot for a T but I'm real happy with it and I'll be able to climb in and out with out breaking my back.








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My wife wants me to see things from a woman's point of view, so now I spend a lot of time looking out the kitchen window
will


WALKERTON, ONT

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We in Bruce County use a saw like Al is using for fire wood. It looks great. Nice to see you back in your shop. Well done my friend.

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sasquatch


NORTH BAY, ONT

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Looks great, thanks for posting the interesting photos.

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